12 Mar 2018

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is one of the best ways to prevent kidney disease.

Member of Parliament for Tlokweng, Mr Kenneth Segokgo said this during the commemoration of the World Kidney Day in Tlokweng recently.

He said kidney disease affected many people in the world adding that it was the eighth killer disease.

Therefore, he said caution should be applied to guard against the disease.

“We do not watch what we eat. We become overweight and are at risk of getting non-communicable diseases,” Mr Segokgo said.

He stated that other lifestyles such as excessive drinking of alcohol and lack of physical activities put one at the risk adding that a healthy person was not prone to non-communicable diseases.

Mr Segokgo encouraged the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle saying a healthy nation would result in a lower health bill and the money, which would otherwise be spent on the bill would be used on other deserving developments.

He said many people do much in their quest to amass wealth but failed to enjoy it because they had neglected their health in the process.

A medical doctor from Renal Care Institute (RCI), Dr Ogaufi Didimalang said the day’s commemoration was about raising awareness about the risk factors of kidney disease.

Although kidney disease could affect anyone, he said there were factors, which put some people at a higher risk of contracting the disease, giving examples of conditions such as high blood pressure and sugar diabetes.

Dr Didimalang said in a woman, urinal track infection if not treated on time could lead to kidney disease adding that abortion and cervical cancer could also lead to kidney disease.

 He further stated that there was need for people to adopt healthy lifestyles and to also adhere to doctors’ advice to reduce the chances of getting the disease.

Ms Lesego Kalantle from Sedilega Private Hospital said the country had not yet invested much on renal care adding that the country in the past relied on neighboring countries.

 She said the local health care systems had started offering renal care services mostly in Gaborone. 

Ms Kalantle also noted that as the cases of the kidney disease increased, the medical personnel in the field were not increasing.

As such, she said there was need for more personnel.

 The World Kidney Day was commemorated on March 8th and this years’ theme was Kidney and women’s health. Ends